


picture it, soft

by hyerewolf



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Idols, F/F, Song: Strawberry Blond (Mitski), cheesy as heck, other loona girls are mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:20:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25963501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyerewolf/pseuds/hyerewolf
Summary: In which Heejin has it really, really bad.
Relationships: Jeon Heejin/Kim Hyunjin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 138





	picture it, soft

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lovexyou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovexyou/gifts).



Here's a truth about Jeon Heejin: she loves Loona, with all her heart.

How could she not?

They are her girls, in a way, because while she isn't one of the leaders and she'd never want to be, in all honesty, she is the founder of Loona. The first girl. She saw all of them come along, settle in, and grow into who they are today, both on stage and off, and she loves every single one of them.

She loves Hyejoo for her "no shits given" attitude; Chaewon for her princess-like mannerisms; Jiwoo for her bright smile; Sooyoung for her dad jokes; Yerim for her unwavering optimism; Jinsoul for her horrible puns; Jungeun for trying to keep everything under control; Vivi for her quiet remarks; Yeojin for being so caring despite being the youngest; Haseul for taking care of all of them so well, and Hyunjin for, well, being Hyunjin. Whatever that meant.

She loves them all and wouldn't trade them for anyone else. Even when they're being loud as all hell while she's trying her absolute best to get some sleep at the back of the van because she was so stressed last night she got only a few hours of rest, as usual before a long journey.

"Watch out!"

She opens her eyes just in time to see something looking suspiciously like half of a slice of bread flying over her head and hits the window above her with a loud _pat_. She wonders how come their managers stay sane in situations like this.

"Sorry!" yells someone - Heejin's almost sure it's Yerim - from the front row of the seats, barely audible over Yeojin's loud cackling. Hyunjin's bright face appears right in front of her and the girl reaches over Heejin's lap to pick up what turns out to be half of a sandwich wrapped in aluminium foil that got tossed her way.

"I'll take care of that," she says with a wink. Heejin feels her cheeks heat up and she pretends the groan she lets out is one of annoyance, not pure embarrassment. She covers her eyes with her forearm.

Well, she still loves them all, even Hyunjin. She'd murder them a long time ago if she didn't.

==

She might love them all and try to treat them all the same way, but she'd be lying if she said Hyunjin didn't hold a special place in her heart.

It's only natural - they've known each other for so long, spent so many days together, Heejin can hardly imagine her life without Hyunjin anymore, for better or for worse. Especially now that they both debuted in the same subunit of a new girl group, which, frankly, feels more like a fever dream than anything else.

They're sitting next to large mirrors in the practice room, cooling down after another day of hard work. A lot of other girls and some boys are still exercising, not giving up their dream to be part of the group as well. Heejin stares at them openly, wondering which of them will be offered a chance to stand on stage alongside the five already known members.

Suddenly, Hyunjin starts laughing at something that Vivi's just murmured, the sound resonating throughout the room, filling it whole and drowning out all the music. Her eyes and nose are scrunched in the cutest way and she should be looking anything but beautiful right now, but Heejin just can't stop staring at her in what feels like awe.

She snaps out of it when Haseul's elbow stabs her between her ribs, her leader shaking her head as she offers her a water bottle. A shiver runs down Heejin's spine, because that's when she realizes - she's in far too deep. She has a massive crush on one Kim Hyunjin, who also happens to be both one of her best friends _and_ her coworkers.

Try to name a less lucky person than Jeon Heejin.

==

"It's too early to be alive", complains Hyunjin as she closes the door to their dorm behind her. Heejin can just nod, sleep still tugging at her eyelids. She wants nothing more but to go back to her warm, comfy bed.

They get on the bus that's supposed to take them to school, the city waking up around them as they try not to be lulled back to sleep by the gentle sway of the vehicle. People next to them are just as drowsy as the two girls and Heejin realizes that it's the most peace she's gotten in a long time, a tiny moment wedged in between the chaos of school, practice, and lawlessness of the dorm life alongside eleven other people. She looks over to Hyunjin to ask if she feels similar, but the words die in her throat when she opens her mouth.

The rays of morning sunlight coming through a space in between some buildings hit Hyunjin's sleepy face in just the right way, making her look etheral, wrapped in liquid gold and so peaceful, it's almost like she's a sculpture. Her hair shines in the light, and her brown eyes turned into melted amber, like they always do when the sun hits them at certain angles, and Heejin is utterly captivated, like she always is when she sees the other girl.

That is, until she realizes that she's blatantly staring _and Hyunjin's staring back right at her_.

"Do I have something on my face?" Hyunjin asks, a playful tinge in her voice, eyes still glued to Heejin.

"N-no, not at all," mumbles Heejin, turning away immediately. Or at least trying, because suddenly there's a hand - Hyunjin's hand - holding her chin, not letting her go.

"Well, you do," says the girl, and yeah, Heejin's sure that she's dreaming, because Hyunjin reaches to her cheek and brushes her thumb over it. Before Heejin can process what has just happened, Hyunjin has already leaned away, as casual as one can. "Crumbs," she says, entirely unaware of how hard the blood is rushing in Heejin's ears.

==

The rushes of blood haven't stopped - on the contrary, they've been more and more frequent of an occurence despite how much time has passed. They've graduated from high school, took their CSATs, went to KCon all the way in the USA, and got their first music show win, and yet Heejin still turns ripe tomato red whenever Hyunjin as much as winks at her.

Most of the time she accepts her fate, but there are times when it gets really hard.

Like right now, when Hyunjin's curled up right next to her on the couch in front of the TV, her head on Heejin's shoulder, a blanket covering both of them. There's also Jinsoul sitting at Heejin's other side, hugging a large bowl of popcorn, completely unaware of how stressed the younger girl is at this very moment.

If anyone asked Heejin what movie were they watching, she wouldn't be able to answer. All she knows is how close to her Hyunjin is - not for the first time, but over the time this kind of attempts at cuddling became more frequent. In theory, Heejin is all about that, the platonic-but-not-really intimacy threading a perfect thin line between what their relationship is and what she'd like it to be, but in practice she awkwardly freezes up whenever Hyunjin initiates any kind of prolonged contact.

She feels Hyunjin stir a little and a hand slides right over hers, stopping there and squeezing her fingers. Heejin is grateful for the lack of light and Jinsoul's attention being fully focused on the screen, because she knows that all of her face is embarrassingly red.

She spends the rest of the evening just wishing she was a little braver.

==

The hiatus is sucking the life out of them all. Heejin feels it even if the members try to keep a smile and put on a brave face. They still practice every day, getting more cover dances under their belt, but it's the lack of the original songs that worries all the members.

No one says anything though, except for Chaewon, who one day just squeals a "let's sneak out and get some food!" at the lot of them. In the end it's just her, Hyejoo, Heejin, and Hyunjin, but that's still more than enough to have a good time.

Hyunjin shoves two very similar plaid shirts into Heejin's face. Heejin's almost sure she got them straight from Heejin's side of the closet.

"Hey, Heejin, which one should I wear?" the younger girl asks, a mischevious spark twinkling in her eye. "The one on the right is cotton, I think, but this one," she lifts up the one she's holding in her other hand, "is made of _girlfriend material_." She wiggles her eyebrows while Heejin wonders if she's misheard that, because she clearly must have.

Chaewon giggles from her place on Hyunjin's armchair, and Heejin feel that her wind chimes-like laugh is almost mocking her, for no reason at all. Nevertheless, her cheeks just get redder.

"Whichever," she mumbles, very purposefully not looking at either of her friends, "just hurry up and get dressed before all restaurants close down for the night."

They end up going to a ramen place not so far away from their dorm, all of them in masks and with baseball caps over their eyes. Maybe they're being overly cautious, but they figure it's better to be safe than sorry. No one really wants to get scolded by any of their managers.

The night is warm and they decide to take a long route back to the dorm, and that's when Hyunjin's hand sneakily finds it's way into Heejin's almost causing the latter girl to have a minor heart attack.

==

Hyunjin corners Heejin one day after practice, when she's collecting stray water bottles strewn all around. The rest of the girls have already left the studio, rushing to get to the dorm in time for dinner, and the rumbling in Heejin's stomach tells her she should hurry as well.

No such luck.

Hyunjin is standing right in her way, a determined look on her face, the one that Heejin sees every time her friend is trying to perfect a move in yet another choreography after hours of trying. She isn't sure if that's a good thing.

"Jeon Heejin."

Heejin freezes in place. "Y-yeah, that's me."

Hyunjin takes a deep breath. "I've wanted to tell you something for the longest time." A thousand of bad scenarios flash through Heejin's head, but before she can open her mouth and start apologizing for that one time she's eaten the sweets she knew Hyunjin was hiding for a special occasion, the younger girl interrupts her train of thoughts. "You're a very, very exceptional person and I admire you a lot, and you're so beautiful both inside and out, and I just..."

The cogs in Heejin's brain start turning, but what they churn out simply doesn't make any sense. "You mean..."

"I like you, and I mean, like, a lot. In a, uh, romantic way. I've been trying to telegraph it to you for the past forever or so, because I'm not the best with words, but yeah."

"No way." Because that's the exact conclusion Heejin has just come to. There's simply no way in the world that her feelings that she's been harboring for almost three years now were reciprocated for who knows how long. She wants to run and hide in the deepest, darkest corner of the room out of embarrassment, but she stays put out of sheer disbelief this is actually happening.

Hyunjin shakes her head and smiles, her sharp canines showing, her warm eyes turning into crescents. "Oh, Heejin, you're so impossibly dense sometimes."

Heejin smiles as well, and finds out that it's difficult to grin while kissing someone, but definitely not impossible.

(They check that multiple times, just in case.)

==

Through a mist of sleep, she feels a familiar hand gently shake her by the shoulder. "Heejin, wake up. We're almost there."

Heejin barely has the time to run a hand through her hair and they're already stepping out of their van, the first camera flashes going off around them - something that's more and more of a regular occurrence, something that comes with the job, yet still is difficult to get used to.

Haseul does her usual headcount thing as they line up for the press photo, all drowsy and bundled up in cozy clothes. The few news photographers and definitely more fansite masters snap their pictures as the twelve girls march in a single file into the airport building, smiling and waving back at the people greeting them.

Hyunjin's slender fingers lace through Heejin's as they walk, a reassuring gesture hidden from the prying eyes of the crowd around them. Heejin tightens her grip for a brief second and sends another smile, one that she can barely keep at bay, at a camera pointed at her face.

==

Here's a truth about Jeon Heejin: she loves Kim Hyunjin, with all her heart.

Here's another one: Kim Hyunjin loves her, too.

**Author's Note:**

> twt/cc: bbywolfs
> 
> follow me for more awkward gay yearning


End file.
